Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2000)76-1 - Amendment of Directives 69/169/EEC and 92/12/EEC as regards temporary quantitative restrictions on beer imports into Finland - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2000)76-1 - Amendment of Directives 69/169/EEC and 92/12/EEC as regards temporary quantitative restrictions on beer imports into ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2000)76  |
| date | 23-02-2000 |
Under Article 26 of Directive 92/12/EEC and the terms of the Treaty of Accession that refer to this provision, Finland is authorised to restrict the quantities of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products which may be brought into its national territory from other Member States without payment of excise duties to certain limits. With regard to imports of beer, the limit set out in the Treaty of Accession is 15 litres. The derogation was granted until 31 December 1996. Furthermore, Finland was obliged to take measures to ensure that imports of beer from third countries are not allowed under more favourable conditions than such imports from other Member States. According to this obligation Finland increased its allowance for beer imports from third countries from 2 litres to 15 litres.
Before the expiry of the derogation Finland realised that the abolition of the derogation would cause greater problems than had been envisaged and asked for its prolongation. In December 1996 Article 26 of Directive 92/12/EEC was amended. Until 31 December 2003, Finland and Denmark were authorised to continue to apply the same restrictions on the quantity of goods which may be brought into their territories without further excise-duty payment as they applied on 31 December 1996. In addition to the prolongation, the Member States were asked to remove these restrictions progressively. Furthermore, the Member States were authorised to restrict the grant of admission without payment of duty to their own residents who have been absent from their territory for a period of more than 24 hours.
The request by Finland
Owing to fiscal, economic, social, health and public order problems, Finland has requested a separate restriction of 6 litres on beer imports from countries other than Member States from 1 April 2000 until 1 January 2006. The request is due to the increased imports of alcoholic beverages, especially beer, from Russia and Estonia. These imports have negative effects on the operating conditions for Finnish retail traders and on the employment in the border regions. In addition, the increased imports of beer are causing a considerable loss of revenues. With the growing alcohol consumption, health problems have increased as well.
Analysis
The effect of existing law is to permit Finland to maintain the same level of allowance for countries other than Member States as for intra-Community trade. Correspondingly, when Finland raises its intra-Community levels as it is required to do so by Article 26 of Directive 92/12/EEC, Finland will also have to increase its third-country allowance.
Before the accession to the Community, Finland granted a travellers' allowance of only 2 litres of beer. It goes without saying that the increase to 15 litres created a big incentive for private beer imports. If the derogation laid down in Article 26 of Directive 92/12/EEC expires at the end of 2003 there would be no reason for less favourable restrictions of beer imports from countries other than Member States than those laid down in Directive 69/169/EEC. In this case, the general allowance of 175 euro would apply. In practice, private travellers would be entitled to import up to 200 litres of beer from countries other than Member States into Finland. Between Finland and the neighbouring third countries there still exists a considerable disparity in prices. The negative effects of cross-border shopping on the economic situation of Finnish retail traders are reinforced by the existence of duty-free shops located in the border regions of Russia. Besides the negative consequences for retail shops and tax revenues, the increased beer imports are causing social and health problems.
It would therefore be necessary to provide for a temporary derogation. Finland should be authorised to apply a quantitative limitation for beer imports from countries other than Member States. This limitation should be fixed at an amount of not less than 6 litres and, according to the Finnish request, introduced by 1 April 2000 at the latest. This measure would solve the current fiscal and economic problems and facilitate the phasing-out of the current intra-Community allowances. However, this derogation should be restricted to a definite time period taking into account the necessity of equal Community rules to prevent distortions of competition resulting from the application of different limits when external frontiers linking the Community to third countries are crossed. Since an expiry date of 1 January 2004 would coincide with the expiry of the intra-Community allowances, it should be fixed two years later, at 31 December 2005.
The derogation granted to Finland by Article 26 of Directive 92/12/EEC represents an exemption from a fundamental principle of the internal market, namely the right of its citizens to transport goods purchased for their own use throughout the Community without any further payment of VAT and excise duties, so that it is necessary to limit its effects as far as possible. In view of the fact that Finland is obliged to remove progressively the restrictions on the quantity of excisable goods brought into its territory by citizens of other Member States, it has to be considered appropriate at this juncture to fix the subsequent stages Finland has to follow with a view to aligning itself on the Community rules laid down in Articles 8 and 9 of Directive 92/12/EEC by 1 January 2004. To compensate for the decrease of the third-country allowance for beer from the current 15 litres to 6 litres, the first step increasing the intra-Community allowance should be 24 litres from the entry into force of the Finnish legislation introducing the quantitative limit of not less than 6 litres for duty and tax-free imports of beer from countries other than Member States. The second step should be not less than 32 litres from 1 January 2001, the third step should be not less than 64 litres from 1 January 2003. By 1 January 2004 at the latest, Finland should apply the general rules in force in the Community.
A proposal for a regulation concerning the customs aspects is being presented at the same time.